Commercial buildings consume more energy than any other sector of the U.S. economy including transportation and industry. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning along with lighting account for over 50% of the controllable energy use. In order to manage the utilization of energy by both HVAC and lighting systems, an attempt has been made to develop “smart” buildings which utilize sensors and controllers for manipulating the utilization of energy related to these activities. These systems generally include specially designed low voltage equipment for sensing and regulating the deployment of energy. Typical sensors include occupancy sensors, light intensity sensors, temperature sensors and the like. Such equipment is typically incorporated into a building automation system which includes a network of computers for monitoring and regulating the operation of these energy conservation systems.
While such systems are useful for their intended purposes, each system typically has a propriety design unique to the specific manufacturer requiring entire implementations to consist of equipment from a single manufacturer. By utilizing unique equipment design features, it is difficult if not impractical to utilize different equipment from different manufacturers during the design and implementation of a “smart” energy control system in a building. What occurs is that a design is “locked” into a particular manufacturer. This typically produces constraints on the design of such a system and economic inefficiencies.
Some equipment manufacturers utilize control logic which is incorporated into the specific device. Accordingly for a specific set of sensors and lighting instruments utilized in a designated area defining a zone any updates to the control logic for a particular device or the zonal operational parameters must be applied to each device separately. This is a time consuming endeavor. Additional systems utilize independent control systems which are directly interfaced with the respective devices. These systems utilize special interface cables which are difficult to utilize in the field.
In addition to low voltage systems, buildings obviously utilize high voltage also known as line voltage. Line voltage is utilized for typical energy requirements. A key factor when considering the installation of line and low voltage systems is that the certification of electricians is distinct for line voltage applications and low voltage applications. In addition to the certification differences, each system requires different installation considerations and specific tooling. Accordingly, line voltage systems are discrete from low voltage systems and the respective equipment including junction boxes and the respective wiring is typically undertaken at different locations requiring duplicative resources for space and installation efforts. Additionally, the wiring for low voltage systems which include coaxial cable, fiber optics and other Category 5 cable must be handled much more carefully during installation than high voltage conduits. The high voltage conduit is also typically insulated such as being carried in pipes. Different skillsets are required depending on if the installation is low voltage or high voltage.
Accordingly there is a need for a centralized control interface for both low and line voltage systems which also has the ability to control the respective energy loads and which can be easily accessible by the respective licensed electricians such that the high voltage components are distinct from the low voltage components while still minimizing installation space and effort.